Reviews

Wildwood Imperium by Colin Meloy

delsim's review against another edition

2.0

Not as great as the first two, but still a wonderful world to read about.

sleepgoblin's review against another edition

2.0

I think there might actually be an interesting book here, but I really really dislike the way it's narrated. Weird parts of sentences are emphasized, pauses occur where I'm sure they can't be in the actual text. Everyone sounds whiny and weird. I can't do it.

At some point I'll have to look for the ebook and try it that way.

abergland7's review against another edition

2.0

Wow, this took me a really long time to read. I didn't get that "I can't wait to read the next chapter" feeling. Really just read it because I felt obligated to finish the series. I thought that this book was very "meh".

ecs_etera's review against another edition

4.0

I thought this was the strongest book of the trilogy. I really enjoyed Meloy's writing style and I think he came into his own with plotting in this work. I'll definitely recommend this series to young people when they outgrow the Series of Unfortunate Events - and of course anyone from Portland.

lehughes19's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed visiting Wildwood again! Meloy creates a fun world. I loved the first book in the series, but the second and third weren’t the best in my opinion. This final installment in particular felt all over the place. There were many different perspectives and many different side stories. It felt like too much was going on. Meloy is able to pull it all together at the end, but it’s pretty hasty. Im glad I finished the series!

jillmccracken's review against another edition

3.0

My kids and I finished listening to the last of the Wildwood trilogy: Wildwood Imperium by Colin Meloy. This novel closes out the trilogy and serves as a satisfying ending. Prue’s and Curtis’s plot-lines clash and eventually crash into new characters’ stories as well as the various subplots of their orphanage friends (AKA “Unadoptables”). While the extension of some plot elements from the previous installments (Under Wildwood in particular) makes this final novel feel overstuffed and busy at times, Wildwood Imperium still serves as a solid closer and wraps up most of the varied plots with a sense of finality. These various plots the kids found to be somewhat confusing at times, and as I stated in my review of Under Wildwood, Mr. Meloy often uses complex and unfamiliar vocabulary seemingly unnecessarily. Overall, the Wildwood trilogy is an impressive middle grade fantasy/magical realism series. While its lead characters aren’t perfect, Prue and Curtis still make for an interesting heroic duo. Heads up: these books are extremely lengthy. The first of the trilogy (Wildwood) seems justified in its length, Under Wildwood and Wildwood Imperium feel overly long as their plots drag. The kids shared that they sometimes had a hard time keeping up with the various changes in perspective. All three of these novels are hefty volumes at close to 600 pages each (14+ hours on Audible). I have nothing against large books for the middle grades, which is the target audience, but I do believe that long books need to justify their length. Finally, these books all include an underlying - perhaps inaccurate and unrealistic - portrayal that all adults are untrustworthy and suspect simply because they are grown-ups. However, Wildwood Imperium makes for entertaining reading, especially for fans of fantasy adventures.

the_ghost_penguin_reader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

keight's review against another edition

4.0

A jam-packed finale to this trilogy set in a version of Portland where Forest Park is the Impassable Wilderness, a magical land most humans in the city can’t physically enter. After establishing a new set of characters and new thread of narrative in the second book, this one starts with yet another new thread. It makes the story get a little bloated, especially since each thread tends to finish a chapter on a suspenseful moment, but the next chapter shifts back to a storyline, which had you on your seat a few chapters ago. But despite having to hold on to this momentum, it all gets woven together by the end. Read more on my booklog

tamlovestea's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

tillywa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The beginning was frustrating adding in another storyline right at the beginning but I just want to say he wraps it up really really nicely. Yes you get the answer to mostly all your questions. 💙